SNO's plans remain a mystery

Johannesburg, 12 Dec 2005

The Second National Operator (SNO) remains tight-lipped on its future corporate identity.

SNO spokesman Karl Socikwa said at a brief conference after the official handover of the operator's licence on Friday only that the name would be released "soon".

"We want the name to be inclusive, it must be something 'South African'," he told journalist at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Socikwa declined to comment on the SNO's immediate operational plans, saying that "it would be irresponsible for us to speculate" on matters concerning the commencement of service provision.

Though many operational and organisational issues needed to be resolved before any accurate predictions could be made, he confirmed that it would strongly consider the provision in its licence allowing for the leasing of Telkom infrastructure, at least to begin with.

Socikwa would not reveal details relating to the operator's business plans or who will be taking leadership positions. A formal statement will be issued at a later stage, he said, although it is not clear when that will happen.

The SNO has three shareholder blocks: strategic equity partner company SepCo, with a 51% stake; black economic empowerment (BEE) group Nexus Connexion with a 19% share; and state-owned enterprises Transtel and Eskom enterprises, with 15% each.

All stakeholders, Socikwa said, would meet to discuss issues including the commencement of operations. "All open issues that relate to management will come formally at a later stage and we certainly hope that we will enter the market sooner and not later."

The size of the market has changed, he said, and the SNO will take market research into consideration as it plans to enter the telecoms sector. Because the second fixed-line operator is new to the telecoms market, the market itself would determine the SNO's position.

Asked whether the SNO saw itself as a direct competitor to Telkom, Socikwa said: "The SNO and Telkom both have public switched telecommunications service licences, both have similar interests and that's where it ends.

"In order to have an impact on the telecommunications sector, competition is the real driver of value in the market, as it provides new services as well as choice for consumers," said Socikwa.